Canadian Geese

Lichen and Moss

Oregon Junco

Patterns

I'm fascinated by patterns. Some are subtle; some leap out at me. Some occur without any human intervention; others are entirely human made. The one shown here is a combination of the two.

While walking around a local school, I looked down and saw a pattern made by moss growing around cracks in a walkway. I thought this was a wonderful example of a pattern that is "human-made" but that would not exist if nature hadn't added its beautiful "paint."

I find myself looking now for these images that are around me if I take the time to look. Each image asks nothing more of me than to notice and enjoy it.

Foxgloves

Between my neighbors and me, we have some really beautiful flowers blooming right now. This foxglove is growing in my front yard. The seeds came from my former home in the woods where I spent a few years in the seventies. Of course I didn't plant the seeds in this particular spot. The plants have migrated from my backyard to the front.

When I was little we had foxglove growing on our ten acre rural property and I remember imagining a fox carefully placing his toes in the furry blooms. It never quite made sense, but foxglove is a more colorful name than the latin digitalis.

Wallpaper or Dogwood?

Baby Geese

A couple of weeks ago the teenage geese were on an excursion at my dad's retirement place. There must have been 30 geese of all ages and featherage. The whole flock was caring for the babies while they fed on what they could find on the lawns around the facility.

We walked a little too close and the assemblage moved enmasse across the parking lot to another wider lawnscape. I was touched to watch the adult geese herd the little ones and keep an eye out for stragglers. The teens mimicked their elders by scooting along and stopping every few steps to lift their heads to survey for predators.